TVSquad

(S01E09/S01E10) This was a pretty interesting episode pairing. The first one, "Ice Follies," was probably the best episode of the season so far. It was tense. It held my attention and I didn't yawn. That's saying something. Before I get to the good stuff though, let's get rid of the boring junk. Once again, Sherry Stringfield's character serves no purpose. Either she's not around at all (which is great) or she randomly enters a scene and you're caught off guard. Since transferring at the DA's office, she's now working in a new role which places her at the station with John. Wonderful. Now we can't avoid her. All I can say is that Stringfield must have sighed with delight when Caruso decided to leave at the end of the season. If she had to hang around as his ex-wife for a second season? That would have been tough. Plus, the first season of ER just wouldn't have been the same.

The meat of the two episodes focused on Janice's involvement with the Moreno family. Even though she "took care" of the problem, some of Moreno's cronies have found proof that she was working for them and they've brought her back in. Kelly wants to help out, keep it under raps. But Janice ends up turning herself into IAD. Dumb move. They won't let her cop to the murder because Giardella lied and said he did it. If that came out, the rest of his case would fall apart. So Janice is forced to go under-cover to repay her debt to IAD. Payment for letting her get away with murder. Ooooohhhh! So that was most of the action. Her and John are still together, but if this keeps up... that might not last. I almost wonder if she bites the dust by the end of the season? That would make sense and it would also give Kelly's character a reason to logically move on and leave the show.

Elsewhere, Sipowicz worked on his own for most of these two episodes. He did help one older actor recover his stolen Oscar statuette. As per usual, Sipowicz had some great quotes that I'll mention later. Oh, and can't forget the Donna/Medavoy affair. It's begun. They went ice-skating together and Greg blew off his wife.

Luis Guzman returned as Martinez's father. James' junkie brother finally OD'ed and that opened the family storyline back up. It was a little cheesy. Father blames son. Son blames father. Then they make up. Typical stuff.

One thing that I've found interesting is how Fancy has been dealing with Sipowicz's racism. Andy got into another beef with a guy he interviewed and Fancy got wind of it. This time Fancy took Andy out for dinner at this all-night rib joint and Andy was the only white guy in the place. He was clearly uncomfortable. But the lieutenant made a good point. Would he feel as uneasy if everyone in the place had guns and badges? Not sure where this story will go, or if Andy will ever come around, but I like what's being attempted.

Best Quotes:

Donna (listening to some insane 9-1-1 caller): "Yes I got it all. An evil energy threatening the galaxy. Right. Also threatening you personally with a laser death squad."

Sipowicz (on turning 40): "As far as I can remember, I dedicated that year to Seagram's 7."

Sipowicz (after busting in on a perp sitting on the can): "Oh man, what have you been eatin'? Some kind of wild game?"